Jamahl Johnson

Donate To GopherHole
hungan1

hungan1

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 20, 2011
Messages
14,251
Reaction score
4,344
Points
113
We haven't heard much recently about his recruitment, or whether he is still on the Gopher's radar as a Plan B or C, etc... At 6' 0" 300 pounds, he is about the size of Steve Richardson.

Scout's Allen Trieu Analysis:
"Quick, but undersized disruptor who gets off the ball quickly and makes plays in the backfield. High-motor, high-effort kid who plays hard and works hard in pursuit. Does a nice job with his hands and has good overall technique."

Does anyone know if the Gophers are even still interested or even close to offering?

He certainly has some motor, and looks determined. His height may be keeping offers away, but Steve Richardson proved a lot of people wrong.

Here is my take, If Aimee commits, they may also extend an offer to him. IMHO, he is worth the risk.

http://www.scout.com/college/football/recruiting/story/1547558-video-jamahl-johnson-at-the-opening-regional?s=143
 

I've wondered about him too, it sounds like he opened some eyes at the camps this summer. There's got to be something up, perhaps they don't see him as a scheme fit, or perhaps it's grade issues.
 

I think I've actually read he has motor issues. And it's one thing to have Richardson's size, but is he as strong and powerful as Richardson? I highly doubt it. I guess he could play himself into an offer in his upcoming senior season.
 






File this under how to play yourself into a scholarship your senior year.

http://www.mnfootballhub.com/news_article/show/548376?referrer_id=484170


Big game from lineman helps Prior Lake throttle Minnetonka 38-0
By Jack Satzinger, Special to the Star Tribune, 08/28/2015, 9:00pm CDT

The Lakers’ Jamahl Johnson forced and recovered a fumble, blocked a punt and scored two touchdowns in the red zone.
 

This was against Minnetonka. He was dominating, motor issues none. At least in this game he was quick, powerful, and showed versatility by lining up in the backfield to punch the ball in twice. He is athletic. Its on tape.
 



Attention Jerry Kill: Offer this 6' 1" 319-pound home state road grader!
 

LakerFan said:
File this under how to play yourself into a scholarship your senior year.

http://www.mnfootballhub.com/news_article/show/548376?referrer_id=484170


Big game from lineman helps Prior Lake throttle Minnetonka 38-0
By Jack Satzinger, Special to the Star Tribune, 08/28/2015, 9:00pm CDT

The Lakers’ Jamahl Johnson forced and recovered a fumble, blocked a punt and scored two touchdowns in the red zone.
Click to expand...

This. The book on Johnson thus far is that he gets by on size alone, doesn't try real hard, isn't in great shape, etc. His Dad is a former NFL DL, so he has the genes, but not everyone LOVES football. If he can show some desire & do it consistently, I would love to have him fall into our laps. Remember though, Kill's been here 5 years now & has paid virtually no attention to him thus far. He's a 300lb+ NT (which is a huge commodity) & has zero D1 offers. That's not an accident.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
This. The book on Johnson thus far is that he gets by on size alone, doesn't try real hard, isn't in great shape, etc. His Dad is a former NFL DL, so he has the genes, but not everyone LOVES football. If he can show some desire & do it consistently, I would love to have him fall into our laps. Remember though, Kill's been here 5 years now & has paid virtually no attention to him thus far. He's a 300lb+ NT (which is a huge commodity) & has zero D1 offers. That's not an accident.
Click to expand...
You don't block punts without some desire and effort. His 2nd touchdown after they were already ahead big was a bruising run. Maybe the guy hates practice but he clearly loves the games.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
This. The book on Johnson thus far is that he gets by on size alone, doesn't try real hard, isn't in great shape, etc. His Dad is a former NFL DL, so he has the genes, but not everyone LOVES football. If he can show some desire & do it consistently, I would love to have him fall into our laps. Remember though, Kill's been here 5 years now & has paid virtually no attention to him thus far. He's a 300lb+ NT (which is a huge commodity) & has zero D1 offers. That's not an accident.
Click to expand...

He has an offer from South Dakota.
 



I remember the last run stuffing dominant d-lineman that everyone went crazy over: Jonathan Harden of CDH. Like Johnson, he was an undersized but stout (5'11" 300lbs.) local product that Gopher fans wanted Kill to bring in. He signed with Western Michigan and after a year transfered to UMD. At this point in Kill's tenure i'm more than convinced that he and his staff can properly evaluate talent and coupled with the fact that Johnson has no other offers than South Dakota I won't be losing any sleep if he isn't part of the 2016 class.
 

Maybe he got by on sheer size alone and never had to work. Now he's looking at his last high school games and thinking that he needs to do more.

Hopefully the lightbulb is just turning on. If he earns it, and deserves it, the schollys will come.
 

DT and DE are the hardest positions for this staff to recruit without a doubt. They would love to get another local DL. We lost Milan to Illinois last season when it was clear which way the programs were going.
The staff could be wrong about Jamal, and maybe they are still evaluating him. But desire and effort are not consistently coachable, if they were Peppers would be playing at DT for us now, the physical talent was always there.Coach Phelps is a no nonsense guy, but even he could not get Peppers to engage.
There is no doubt they know who Jaamal is and he will either convince them he wants to work hard enough to develop or he won't but I am very comfortable in them making a good decision for the team.
About the worst mistake they can make is to take a freshman who does not work out, because it is at least two wasted years and with our rotation a RS freshman should be ready to contribute. Miss on s couple of DT freshmen and JUCOs become a necessity to prevent having big holes in your DL recruiting. Basically every time we miss on a freshman we will probably be recruiting a Juco two years later.
I am not comparing Johnson and Harden, because I believe Jamal is a lot bigger, but as far as Harden goes, I saw him at a Goph practice, obviously w/o pads, and I was astounded he could be that effective in HS. He was 5'8"-5'9" and he was huge in the legs and lower body, but his upper body was not like Richardson's at all. Not a big torso or shoulders, relative to B1G DTs, and there was no way he could get a lot stronger. He had strong looking arms, relative to his torso, but Richardson has arms that look like thighs on a mortal.
 

I went to PL vs Wayzata tonight. Jamahl had a great pressure that led to a pick 6, forced a fumble and had a couple more great runs to punch a TD in from the 10. They might have won if they gave him a defensive series off and gave him the ball more often. I'd be surprised if he doesn't get some better offers.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

AO54 said:
I went to PL vs Wayzata tonight. Jamahl had a great pressure that led to a pick 6, forced a fumble and had a couple more great runs to punch a TD in from the 10. They might have won if they gave him a defensive series off and gave him the ball more often. I'd be surprised if he doesn't get some better offers.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

He plays running back too?
 


AO54 said:
I went to PL vs Wayzata tonight. Jamahl had a great pressure that led to a pick 6, forced a fumble and had a couple more great runs to punch a TD in from the 10. They might have won if they gave him a defensive series off and gave him the ball more often. I'd be surprised if he doesn't get some better offers.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I was there too. Jamaal was on or closing on the qb on all three interceptions. Very impressive. Problem was there was a critical sequence after he forced the fumble they used him to bulldoze the last 10 yards for a touchdown on offense and had to give him a breather on the next defensive series. Wayzata took advantage and drove the length of the field and scored. Defense prevented 2 point conversion, but then PL threw a Pick 6 on next offensive possession and it was all over.
 

He picked up an offer from Iowa State a few days ago.
 


You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom